DOCNZ Goethe Institut Documentary Scholarship

The Documentary New Zealand Trust and the
Goethe-Institut are proud to announce the establishment of a
DOCNZ Goethe Scholarship at the DOCNZ Summit 2009 held
22-25th February 2009 which precedes the DOCNZ International
Documentary Film Festival 2009 season.

The DOCNZ Goethe
Scholarship is a key initiative of the DOCNZ Goethe-Institut
Partnership. Recognizing the long tradition of German
documentary film-making and the desire of both countries to
forge stronger collaborations, the two organizations have
designed a scholarship aimed at selecting a New Zealand
documentary film-maker to visit Germany and develop and
premiere a documentary film project which at both the DOCNZ
International Documentary Film Festival and a major German
film festival.

The scholarship is aimed at film-makers
aged 30 years seeking to etch a mark as a documentary
film-maker. Applicants are required to submit and realise a
project to be pitched to a jury. The selected recipient will
travel to Germany, undertake an intensive German language
course and participate in a tailored programme which will
include meetings with German officials, industry and
festivals. The recipient of the 1st scholarship will be
announced at DOCNZ Awards on February 25th
2009.

Christoph Mücher , the New Zealand Director of
the Goethe-Institut says ”This partnership is important
in furthering New Zealand-German film collaboration. Germany
is in the cutting edge of European documentary film-making
and our partnership with the Documentary New Zealand Trust
will enable Germany to work closely with and to share our
knowledge with local New Zealand documentary film-makers.”

“The Documentary New Zealand Trust works hard to
promote our documentary makers and this scholarship
represents an amazing opportunity for a mid-career
film-maker to launch his or her documentary career
internationally. The DOCNZ Goethe Partnership will benefit
New Zealand as a whole.” Alex Lee, Co-director of the
Documentary New Zealand Trust said.

Both organizations
will be releasing more details shortly about the DOCNZ
Goethe Partnership for 2009 which will include a specially
curated programme of German films and a visit by a German
delegation of film-makers, festival officials and
industry.

Details as to application process and
requirements will be available on www.docnz.org.nz
and www.goethe.de/Wellington
from 1 December 2008. For more details
contact:

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